Is there no end to Laura Bailey's talents? Her career as a model has seen her fronting campaigns for Temperley London, L'Oréal, Jaeger and Marks & Spencer; she's the British Fashion Council's Cultural Ambassador; she's written for everyone from
Harper's Bazaar
to
The Daily Telegraph
and she's a contributing editor to
Vogue
. Not enough to send your self-esteem plummeting? She's just designed a decidedly chic range of bags for Radley - and there's not a Scottie dog in sight.

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Having been
the face of Radley
for two seasons, Bailey was thrilled to be offered the chance to add another string to her bow: "What girl could say no to the chance to dream up their very own handbag range?" Her starting point, she told
The Telegraph
, was "simply a combination of what I love, mixed with an idea of what my amazing girlfriends might want to wear: a modern, pared-down collection."

She says she wanted the designs to be "edgy enough to wear with heels at a London party," but "classic enough to survive a splash in wellies in Cornwall." We got the low-down on her moodboard, her tendency to carry around a polar bear, and her pick of the collection.

What do you carry around in your handbag?
Too much. But my essentials for day are my Blackberry for work and iPhone for play (and pictures), a paperback and Liberty notepads. I'll stash a Chanel blush compact and miniature scent in the pocket of my bag along with assorted pens and pencils. I travel light at work or on holiday, but there are London days when I need to be five different people at once. And I'm always, first and foremost, a mother, so each child has their obsession du jour which must be carted around - right now it's a rather forlorn polar bear and a tin full of magnetic rainbow 'buckyballs'. I streamline down to cash, phone and a black eyeliner at night.

What's your favourite bag in the collection?
I change my mind all the time; yesterday it was the small Arundel satchel in navy blue, today it's the Aubrey clutch in tan. Both are seventies-inspired - relatively minimalist but multi-tasking. I also love slipping my black Trellick (with just the bare essentials: passport and boarding pass, or credit card, lipstick and key), inside my everyday Blenheim as a makeshift filing system. It's especially handy when I'm running out the door the minute the kids are asleep and I want to travel light into the night.

Blenheim in green, £349; Aubrey in black, £199; Stanley in tan, £229.

Are you a handbag fiend? How many do you own?
Yes. Not telling. But each has a story and too many memories attached to give up on entirely. I love that feeling of rediscovering an old favourite and finding a note or an old lipstick in the pocket. When designing my Radley collection I kept in mind the idea that they'd wear well and carry stories over time - kind of an anti-'it bag' idea. I still have the bags I had as a student and from my NY model years. Luckily I've got a daughter, though she has declared she'll never, ever wear a dress - just jeans with deep pockets for her 'stuff'.

What was on your mood board?
A pretty random mix. A rough edit: My own vintage treasures / The two Laurens: Bacall and Hutton / Landscapes from St Tropez to the Scottish Highlands / Steve Hiett's 'Girls in the Grass' photographs / Monica Vitti / Françoise Dorléac / Julie Christie in 'Darling' / Bailey's early portraits of Jean Shrimpton and Catherine Deneuve / Goldie Hawn as Private Benjamin / Alexa Chung / Juliette Binoche / Patti Smith. Oh, and a doctor I met in Italy who seemed to wander straight out of a Fellini (or a Woody Allen) movie, complete with battered briefcase, beautiful handwriting and the right kind of sunburnt wrinkles. All somehow conspired in my mind to form an idea of a modern carefree stylish woman on the move and the bags she might need on the road in love and war, retreat and escape.

Laura Bailey's capsule collection for Radley goes on sale 11th October in Radley stores, online at
radley.co.uk
and selected retailers. Prices from £99 to £349.